How To Say I Love You
by SeverNSkull
Summary: Obito Uchiha used one of his Sharingan to survive the events of the Fourth Shinobi War. Now he lives a somewhat peaceful life on the road until an incident occurs, forcing him to run into his former teammate. Now he can either make things right or continue his lonely life on the road.
1. I'm Definitely Not That Guy

Thunder rumbled past the mountains, shaking the sky after brilliant streaks of lightning casting glimpses of blinding light over the trees. Rain poured over the forest in buckets, drenching everything and in an instance, there was a disruption in the middle of the forest, swirling into existence. After a few moments, there was a man tumbling onto the ground, heaving and crying out with effort. One of his eyes was bleeding profusely with the glowing red orb of the Mangekyo Sharingan while the other was shut tightly, having gone blind.

He had fallen in the mud naked, alone, and exhausted from the effort of ripping his way through space and time. It seemed almost impossible that he'd have the energy to make it back home, but when he had reached within himself for the chakra to make the journey, he found an ocean of strength - a reminder of who he had become during the war. _Naruto._ He must have left a piece of the Juubi inside of him and sealed it when he resurrected him, but then again, how was he alive at all? That kid was just too charitable to guys like him.

The man lay there for a long while, trying to regain the energy to move. He didn't have an entire bijuu trapped inside of him so building back chakra took much longer than a true jinchuuriki. It took over an hour of shivering in the pouring winter rain before he was able to stand, shivering with the cold around him. He'd need to find shelter from the cold and clothing. The man figured he could dip back into his time-space dimension, but he'd be stuck there for a while. Shelter it was then.

The rain battered him back and forth, but he was used to the cold biting into his skin after years of living in a cave, just not necessarily the exposure. This is the most bare and exposed he'd been since the day he was born. He was completely vulnerable and had no idea where he was. Eventually, however, he was able to shelter himself beneath the base of a great tree. There were signs that an animal had been living there, but they were likely scared off. Even the most aggressive animals didn't want to tangle with a jinchuuriki, even a pseudo-jinchuuriki like him. The man decided to settle here for the night until he was able to regain some chakra to grab clothes from the Kamui dimension. His eye began to slip shut as his exhaustion hit him more fully and soon, he had drifted into a difficult, restless sleep.

* * *

Two years later, a man no one had ever seen before was sauntering through the streets of a small, traditional village. He had raven-black hair with threads of white peppering it, messy and swept to one side. His right cheek was mildly scarred and he wore a pair of black sunglasses over his dark, wondrous eyes. As for his clothes, he wore a black haori over a navy blue kimono-set. Dark colors blended in better with crowds after all, but he wore no weapon. Only a belt with various adornments, like bells and small keychains that he had collected on his travels. He was only known as 'Tobu' but even he'd agree that he was hopeless when it came to coming up with new names and identities.

Tobu didn't hail from any of the great villages, nor any of the lesser, but he had been a shinobi his entire life. It wasn't necessarily a good life or a decent life, but until the war, it had been the only life he knew and now, in his mid-thirties, he was retired. Instead of going about, following orders from old men that thought they were better than him, he only took orders from himself. Occasionally taking a job here and there to pay for food and shelter, no matter how strange a concept it was.

When he had been under Madara and Black Zetsu's thumb, he didn't require food and didn't have to worry about shelter, but now, all the Akatsuki hideouts have been raided and all the Zetsu were destroyed, as was the Gedo Statue. He still had certain abilities and enhancements from it, but he now felt the effects of starvation and exhaustion. It took much getting used to.

Eventually, while trudging through town, he came across a decent-looking inn he could stay at for the night and decided to go inside. Downstairs was a small restaurant with neatly set up booths and tables. That'd allow him to eat without having to cover his face entirely. He pushed his shades up into his hair and decided to book a room and a table, after all, he had grown tired of sleeping in the hard landscape of Kamui or in the trees, always on the lookout for thugs or shinobi who might recognize him. (Not that the latter was very likely.) Tobu had kept a few ryo in his wallet just for such an occasion, but after that, he'd need to take on another job or hunt for himself and go back to uncomfortable camping. Still, he was a firm believer in the phrase _'Treat yourself,'_ at least when it was plausible.

Tobu began to walk up to the counter to book himself a room, but immediately a frightened young woman came up and began to usher him out. "I-I'm sorry, sir! All of our rooms and tables are currently booked! Please come back another day," she squeaked, leading him outside. He looked behind them to the empty restaurant and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? I'm willing to pay for everything in advance," Tobu tried to reason with her. He was a little disappointed and more than a little suspicious now as she shook her head 'no'.

"I'm so sorry, sir! But we have a-," she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "-party coming any moment now!" She pushed him out the door and shut it tightly, pulling down the shutters.

That was rather disappointing.

The shunned traveler pouted and thought for a moment before taking a look about the village. People were wrapping up their things and going inside, hiding from something or someone. Making a quick diagnostic, Tobu determined that he wasn't letting off any bijuu chakra. So what could it be?

Down the street he saw an elderly man quickly hobbling to find his own shelter, so he decided to run over and fell in-step with him.

"Excuse me, sir," the traveler asked as politely as he could, "but could you tell me what the heck is going on around here?" The old man spared him a glance and kept going, ignoring the traveler. Tobu didn't like that, so he threw an arm out in the man's path and stepped in front of him, making him yelp in surprise.

"Hey! What's th' big-"

"I asked you to tell me what the hell's going on around here, old man," Tobu demanded, scowling, his dark eyes freezing the man in place.

The old man sighed and gestured for the traveler to follow him to shelter. "Rogue shinobi and a lot of 'em! They come down 'ere maybe once a month t' ransack the village and pillage our goods and young women," the old man explained, heading to a ramshackle merchant's hut.

"What about the ninja village? Have they sent anyone out here to do anything about them," Tobu asked desperately, imploring the man to tell him what he wanted to hear, but the old geezer let out a mirthless laugh.

"Oh boy! You're not from around here, are ye? The shinobi don't care about us; we're a poor village o' merchants and fishermen. We ain't worth much t' 'em," he was hooting with laughter and opened the door, before looking back at him. "Ya need a place t' stay, boy?"

Tobu considered this. He could do that and leave the villagers to their own devices once the rogues were gone. After all, there was no reason to step into this because it wasn't his problem. Then again, if he didn't help them, who would?

"Boy, ere yer lis'nin'? Ya need a place t' stay?" the man asked again.

Tobu met his eyes, the glisten of a challenge within them lighting them up. "Yeah, but I have some work to do," he said with a grin, his lip curled back to show a predatory glimpse of teeth, and walked the other direction, keen on meeting his challengers.

* * *

Tobu waited patiently just outside of the village for the bandits. He could sense them drawing nearer and it made him anxious. It had been months since he had last fought with anyone and he still hadn't been able to utilize most of his abilities. He feared he might get a little rusty if things went on this way, but a handful of missing-nin would help him stretch his legs a bit and who knows? Maybe one had a bounty on his head and he could take a page from Kakuzu by making a bit of money off of it?

The entire business reminded him of his Akatsuki days leading up to the Great War. He didn't get to use his techniques much as Tobi either, but at least he had fun.

He lifted his head as he saw a group of a dozen missing-nin headed his way. His grin broadened as he considered how it may become more than just stretching his metaphorical legs. As they drew closer, he flared out his chakra in an obvious challenge, stopping them in their tracks. He could sense the flicker of unease run through them, followed by a murmur until a leader came forth from the group.

A man with a shock of red hair glared at him with war-hardened eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled, his stance was just as defensive as the others in his group but his face showed the evidence of a more difficult life as a shinobi. Tobu figured he was either somewhat strong or fairly charismatic to speak for the rest of the group so openly. And combined with that red hair, he believed he might be an Uzumaki.

"I'm not anyone really, but I heard you've been attacking this village," he said in vague answer.

"Why do you care?" he barked. "It's not your village. You're a _rogue_. Get out of our way and let us pass or we'll have to go through you."

"Well, you see," the lone man crossed his arms and frowned, "that's exactly why I _can't._ Like you, I'm actually not a shinobi anymore either, so I don't have to follow their rules. Personally, I was enjoying myself here until you spooked all of the villagers, so let me set _my terms_." Tobu's body straightened and he let his arms fall, putting the missing-nin on edge. "Leave and never come back, or... **_I'll kill you all_** ," his voice was a deep growl, much like the one he used when he had masqueraded as Madara, both threatening and cruel. It felt strange to use it now but to see the looks on each of their faces was priceless. To add to the effect, he let loose another flare of chakra, releasing an invisible miasma of killing intent and a thirst for blood. But the thrill of the soon-to-be violence and bloodshed made the Juubi's chakra locked away in his chest stir with morbid intent.

 _Of all the times to awaken._

The leader twitched with anticipation and in a moment two of the group came charging at him, kunai drawn in their hands, but Obito held his ground. With his single Mangekyo Sharingan active beneath the cover of his contact lenses, both of them passed right through him, tumbling to the ground. The motion didn't even startle the bells adorning his garments.

"What the hell is this guy?" one of the other bandits squeaked fearfully.

"Exactly who we're looking for," the leader replied ominously.

Tobu raised his brow and looked amused. Looking for him? It was almost preposterous, but then again, how many people could allow others to phase through them? A small mistake on his part, but then again, he didn't really intend upon letting these guys live.

"You mean this guy is…" the first bandit trailed off and looked him straight in the eye, swallowing back fear. He seemed to only just realize what kind of danger he was in. It was unbelievably naive for someone who had attacked him first.

"Yeah. Yeah, he is," there was a ruffle of nerves through the group and then, the fight began.

A whirl of kunai and shuriken headed his way. Tobu wasn't particularly worried about it and let them slide easily through him while the two missing-nin behind him came at him from angles to attack him, waiting for him to solidify once more. He grabbed one of the last few kunai mixed into the cloud of steel and turned with lightning speed to the one on his left, stabbing them through the chest, coating his gloved hand with blood. He knew it was a bad idea to wear light colors, but that wouldn't stop the missing-nin on his right from closing in.

Tobu leaped away and reared back to throw the tremorous, dying man at his comrades. He watched as the body sailed through the air like a rag doll towards the others and quickly flew through the seals to launch a katon jutsu at them to follow it.

 **"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"**

A great ball of flames launched towards the mass of missing-nin, but he didn't get a chance to see if it hit as he began dodging the man who had come up from behind him. The man was one of the two who had charged at him in the beginning.

He slashed at him with a sword and Tobu wriggled away, just like in his 'Tobi' days. Another smile began to grace his lips and he quickly slid into the ground like water before coming up behind the man once more. He raised his leg in a powerful kick and caught the man in the side, thrusting him away, tumbling across the small clearing. That had to have broken something, but now he was down to ten opponents. _Not bad!_

However, the other missing-nin were still attempting to close in on him and Tobu had no idea what they could do just yet. They seemed to be a jumble of different clans and different village affiliations, so it was nearly impossible to pick out what their abilities might be. Just the kind of ragtag group he'd expect for mercenaries.

Then he came up with an idea to find out just what they could do; he'd have them chase him through the forest. They'd have to split up to take him on since the trees weren't overly tall or thick like those that towered over men and touched the sky in the Land of Fire.

He took off in a tactical retreat towards the forest, the rogues hot on his trail.

"After him," Tobu heard the leader cry, "follow him but don't let him get away! It could be a trap."

Well, he wasn't exactly wrong. He was planning on getting them to regroup. They'd probably use a standard maneuver and split into two groups of three and one group of four to tail him. The odds would be much better for Tobu that way.

Sure enough, there was a team of three missing-nin on his tail, leaping across branches in pursuit of him. Tobu stopped in his tracks, catching them off-guard and attacking one of the men with a Mokuton spike extending from his palm. The twisted growth burst through the man's chest and his body fell to the forest floor with a muted 'thud.' _Nine left._

The other two had chains in their hands, wrapped with tags and lashed out at him, trying to catch him, but the lone ex-shinobi let them slide through him easily. Seals weren't a challenge if they didn't touch his person. They could slip right through his Kamui ineffectually. The twin chains flew through him, grasping at nothing and smashing against the tree trunk. He reared up to attack again, his elbow falling into one of the men's bellies and earning a choked out groan. The sound was music to his ears until something orange pierced through his right arm as he hit the man. It didn't hurt, but he could immediately feel the chakra produced by his Hashirama cells flowing strangely in such a way he could barely feel it.

Tobu looked closer and saw something he hadn't seen in over twenty years: a chakra chain. It wasn't just a bijuu-sealing chain like the ones he could produce with the Rinnegan implanted into his left eye socket, but a standard, Uzumaki-bloodline sealing chain like Kushina's jutsu. He looked to his left in a faraway tree, following the chain back to its master. Sure enough, it was the redheaded leader of the missing-nin, smirking at him.

The captured man snarled and tried to yank his arm back, pulling on the Uzumaki, but the man didn't budge. He was anchored, the chain had gone through his arm into the tree, so try as he could, Tobu couldn't yank himself free.

More chains surrounded him, one wrapping around his throat, another his human arm, and three around his waist, bringing him down to his knees. These were all steel chains, however, aside from the one on his throat, which was the one wrapped in seals. He was caught.

The Uzumaki let a smirk grace his lips and some of the other missing-nin hooted and hollered with joy. "We caught him! Just imagine how much we'll make when we sell an Uchiha to one of the great nations. We'll be rich!" the leader announced to the other rogues.

Shit. He knew who he was. Probably. There was only one thing to do now, distract the men and act dumb. It hadn't failed him as Tobi. Why not as Tobu?

"I'm sorry," Tobu interrupted, sounded baffled, "but did you say _Uchiha_? Sorry to say, but the Uchiha are pretty much extinct. I'm not an Uchiha."

The Uzumaki looked him in the eyes, seemingly unafraid of any Sharingan tricks. The chains were definitely chakra-sealing then. "Obviously, I did say that," he grunted from his perch. "You're Obito Uchiha, aren't you? Clearly, there's only two left and we just caught one of them!"

Tobu grit his teeth, trying to reveal nothing. So the guy figured it out, but that wouldn't mean anything if he managed to get out of this trap. He'd kill him before anyone else found out. "What'll you do if I am?" he queried, watching the man carefully trying to pinpoint a weakness.

"First," the man answered, leaping onto a closer branch so the Uchiha could hear him more clearly, "we'll pluck out that lovely eye of yours. You won't need it once we sell you to the highest bidding nation so they can have their own line of Uchihas. Might even keep a few samples for ourselves to have a few among our ranks as well or even to sell later on."

Samples? Ew. That didn't sound very appealing. Being a breeder for whatever sadistic prick bid the most on him wasn't his idea of a good time. Especially since without his Sharingan, that'd probably be how he'd end up spending the rest of his life. It was about time to leave this party.

"Any idea who you're going to sell me to yet? Or how about this, how are you going to convince the buyer I'm the real deal if you take the Sharingan? That might put a damper on your plans," the Uchiha pointed out, earning him a maddened laugh from the Uzumaki. It wasn't too reassuring.

"Stone, Cloud, Mist, hell, _even the Leaf_ would be interested in you, not to mention the smaller villages or rich daimyos who would like to keep an Uchiha for a pet, but don't worry about your eye. I'll take good care of it. That should be proof enough for our buyers, don't you think, traitor?" Tobu scowled at him. Like hell he'd let this guy do that to him!

The Juubi's voice began pounding in his skull, making his head throb, but he couldn't make out a single word. It only spurred him on more. This guy was going to pay for entangling Obito Uchiha in this trap and thinking he could use him for financial gain.

"You're going to regret saying that," the Uchiha stated, giving off a deadly air, his glare determined filled with visions of the man's death. Without missing a beat, he tilted his head and bit into his right arm, his teeth sinking through his haori and kimono beneath down to the synthetic flesh of his arm, tearing it off.

"What the hell?" one of the men said, their chain around his left upper arm going limp for a moment. The Uchiha managed to wriggle backward as he attempted to free himself from the rest of the chains.

"Don't drop your guard! He'll escape," the Uzumaki yelled, shooting another chain at the Uchiha, missing and sticking it fast into the branch where Obito had just been.

The Uchiha had managed to move, but he still couldn't use his chakra. Right now, he was relying on his brute strength alone. He eventually managed to stand and two of the stand-by rogues raced towards him, throwing more chains around him to keep him down. This was it. He couldn't fight them off and the seal tag covered chain around his throat was now squeezing him with unbearable tightness, choking him.

 _"Obito,_ " the effeminate voice inside him cajoled, " _free me and you won't have to suffer any longer."_

To hell with that! He wasn't letting the Juubi free, even if it was only a piece of the beast. All it needed was a piece to survive and bring back Kaguya anyhow. Come to think of it, that voice sounded exactly like her.

Obito fought and yanked at the chains, gagging and thrashing as he endured the pain. His eyes were watering and his head was pounding with the Juubi's angry chakra. If he passed out, he wouldn't be able to control it, since it was never properly sealed. The Uchiha could only rely on his Mokuton and Sharingan to keep it in check.

Deadly, hot crimson chakra began to leak out of him, startling the rogue shinobi surrounding him. It burned Obito's skin and scalded it painfully, peeling flakes of flesh from bones like paper. The leader of the group shot another chakra chain into him, piercing Obito's chakra point and making him spit up blood in an attempt to control the creature inside him, but it was too late. The Juubi was free.

A bloody red cloak of angry, boiling chakra engulfed Obito and wrapped around the chains, burning the hands that held them. The links wrapped around him began to sizzle and hiss as they melted against his skin, the same with the makeup on his face, concealing his now compromised identity. The silicone flesh and the plastic of his contacts became puddles leaking down his eyes and face into a soggy mess on the branch he was poised on. Everything began to catch fire as the chains were set free and he fell to his hands and knees, a horrifying, deafening scream pulled from his throat, causing shockwaves through the trees. The rogues surrounding him were petrified with fear, unsure of how to handle the pseudo-jinchuurki.

The Uzumaki began shooting more chakra chains into Obito's bloody flesh to keep him from fleeing or attacking, but it did nothing to keep the Juubi from rearing its head. Beastly chakra began to sculpt itself around the Uchiha, forming a set of horns on his forehead, the one on his right long and curved and the left short and stumpy. Three writhing tails formed, each ended in a fat, heavy hand as they swished angrily around their vessel, protecting him from any further attack.

Some of the rogues began to flee, but Obito was beginning to get his bearings in this form. The Uzumaki's chakra chains wouldn't hold him much longer.

One of his bijuu tails came up to wrap its hand around the mass of chains and yanked hard, making the Uzumaki lose his balance and recall the chains as he fell before catching himself on a lower branch. The Uchiha would deal with him shortly, but for now, he had to get the others who were escaping.

He crouched and took a tremendous leap down in the middle of three of the fleeing missing-nin, slashing at them with his claws, ripping them apart and spilling their blood among the trees. Two went down immediately, but the other still attempted to run while panting with tremendous effort. He was determined, but Obito caught him with his scorching tail. The man cried out as his flesh seared and the tail squeezed the life out of him, twisting around him like a coiling serpent. It was mesmerizing to watch it take hold as the Juubi's voice egged him on to destroy - to kill - all of them.

A water jutsu splashed against Obito, knocking the burned up husk of a man out of his grasp and causing him to look behind him at the Uzumaki and the rest of his team trying to capture him once more. The Uchiha huffed, showing teeth as he snarled, but said nothing as his mind was still tainted by the Juubi's influence. His chakra still hadn't begun flowing properly again even with the use of his Sharingan once more at his disposal. If he didn't wrestle back full control soon, things might not turn out very well for either him or anyone in the area rather than just the despairing missing-nin.

They began throwing kunai, strapped with hissing explosive tags to knock him off his feet. Obito expertly jumped away, his tails swishing fiercely with his set-in rage. He wanted to rip them apart and tear them limb from limb with his bare hands. The Uzumaki ordered his remaining men to run around him to try and keep him in a single area, but the jinchuuriki couldn't hear a single word of it, only watching as the rogues began surrounding him and attacking once again with more kunais and jutsus. It fueled his wrath that much further.

Another tail made its way out and the Juubi's voice became louder and more jarring. Obito wanted it to stop; both the woman's voice and the attack, but it didn't. It felt like his head would split apart and he threw his hands up to it to stop it from falling apart like it threatened to do. He screamed again, his tails thrashing and deflecting the attacks on him, burning away the weapons and incoming jutsu before slashing through the thick branch, making him tumble all the way to the ground.

* * *

He didn't remember much after he came to, other than that he was no longer under attack from rogue shinobi, who seemed nowhere to be found. His chakra felt normal again, but he was still missing an arm. He'd have to replace that if he wanted to avoid suspicion until it grew back.

Obito stood up with a strained grunt as his body ached vividly as his Hashirama cell continued to piece his skin back together. A moment after, he found himself in the middle of a patch of dead earth, shrubbery and greens were scorched away to ash around him. He couldn't remember doing that until he recalled _the Juubi._ It had broken free when his chakra had been sealed and began wreaking havoc, killing the missing-nin. He supposed he should be grateful for the creature inside him for rescuing him from the miserable fate that awaited him in captivity, but he'd rather not. As far as things went, he made the final decision to kill them and could have eventually gotten away from the hunters himself. But for now, he figured that should probably get a move on before anyone came to investigate.

The Uchiha inwardly sighed. There goes his prize or any chance of a bounty. He'd also have to sleep on an empty stomach inside Kamui again, which also wasn't favorable while healing. His wounds would take even longer to close like this, but it could hardly be helped. However, he had some business to attend to.

Obito let his Sharingan spin back to life and began following a chakra trail to the nearest body, coming across the Uzumaki, the man's chest rattling as his lifeforce was drained from his being. The man's right arm lay at his side, while the left held a dripping wound in his gut where a hole blossomed from his middle. His oaken eyes fell on him as he approached, the Uchiha's belt of ornaments jingling from his movements for the first time since entering these woods, but the man said nothing as though waiting for Obito to end him. He'd die regardless, but he needed something from the man.

The Uchiha squatted down over him, glaring him in the eyes with his mismatched ones and unblinkingly removed a kunai from beside the man's head. Then without hesitation, Obito pressed it to his throat, pushing up his chin with the blunt side of the blade, forcing the man to look up further to see him.

"Now, you see, I told you that you'd regret what you said to me," Obito stated menacingly, his eyes unblinking as he gave him a stony glare.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes, but not before I bring you unimaginable pain," the Uchiha replied and put the kunai in his mouth before using his chin to let the tattered remains of his left sleeve fall as he raised it, revealing his arm. He took a moment to compare his skin to the rogue's, pressing it against the arm lain on the man's belly and making him hiss. "Well, would you look at that? It's a match!"

"What are you going to do?" the man asked, his body trembling although his gaze remained hard and steely.

Obito smirked - it was an awful, spiteful thing on him - and made an amused hum vibrating in his throat like the purr of a cat. He took the kunai back in his hand and lifted it up, ready to stab into the man. _"You'll see,"_ he hummed playfully and brought it down, driving into flesh almost gleefully earning him a blood-curdling scream from his victim. He wouldn't need it anyways.


	2. Is It A Man Or A Ghost?

Kakashi sat in his chair, spun back so he could look out the wide windows of the Hokage's office - his office. Out there were all the people that relied on him and depended on him to protect and guide them. It had never been his dream or even an afterthought to sit here now, but it had been of his late mentor and also his best friend, Obito Uchiha.

The name was of a man who had strayed far from his dreams under the conditioning Madara Uchiha had placed on him. Kakashi couldn't even imagine what he must have gone through. Madara had been more of a creature than a man by that point and Obito, being the naive boy he had once been wouldn't have had much of a chance to refuse the man anyways. Eventually, he'd become just like him and nowadays the Uchiha was a boogeyman and a creature of legend, less than the man or the young boy that Kakashi had once known.

During missions, squads shared horror stories about 'The Ghost of the Uchiha' tromping through the woods, untouchable by any shinobi, even those as high up on the power spectrum as Kakashi's students. Parents told tales to their children to scare them into being on their best behavior in fear of the cryptic being sneaking into their rooms and slitting their throats as they slept. It left a lot of work for the current Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village and it made his heart ache to think of how demonized the man had become. Whenever he thought of Obito, he tended to see the young, happy-go-lucky boy of his Team Minato days, but they were far gone now. He had to push hard against the council to keep them from having Obito's name removed from the memorial stone, but he'd manage to win that battle even though the Uchiha still seemed to have scarred this earth in such a terrible way.

Every once in a while, people would send in reports or make claims that they had seen him, 'The Ghost of the Uchiha'. Kakashi had sent shinobi to investigate the first few times a promising claim had occurred, but nothing ever seemed to come of them until that morning.

In the dead of night, the Hokage's office received a report of a slaughter of missing-nin in a sleepy fishing village close to Wave. Kakashi didn't think much of it at first, but as he read through the report, he became more certain. Maybe Obito had managed to cheat death once again? If he had he was both the luckiest and unluckiest shinobi alive. The report wasn't very in depth, as it was written up by local civilian police, but it seemed plausible that it could be him or one of Orochimaru's and Danzo's failed experiments. The Hokage decided to give it a shot. Organic plant matter? Signs of a possible jinchuuriki? And a witness swearing up and down that he saw an Uchiha, specifically Obito Uchiha in the flesh? Kakashi wanted to go himself to investigate and if Obito was there he'd be the only person that the Uchiha might take reason from to return to the village.

"So did you decide who you're going to assign?" Shikamaru asked behind him, patiently waiting for an answer while taking his typical lax stance.

The Hokage twisted his chair to face the jounin thoughtfully. There were several teams he could send in his stead, but without having familiarity with Obito or being able to cancel his jutsu, it wasn't likely they could wrangle him back. That was still assuming that it was him. He'd have to go himself. No one else in the village except maybe Naruto would be able to get through to him. "Yeah. I think I've decided," he answered before jotting down something on the paper in front of him.

"Alright. Care to tell me who?" the Nara inquired further.

"Well…" Kakashi leaned back in his chair once he finished taking his note, "how do you feel about looking after the village for a few days?" He was asking in all seriousness, but the jounin in front of him seemed rather surprised.

"You can't be serious!" he cried, losing his cool for a moment. "Are you really going to go on a wild goose chase to find him again?" Kakashi's silence and resulting shrug seemed answer enough. The Nara sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with a small huff once he composed himself once more before he muttered, "What a drag…"

He stood more at attention after that, focusing on the Hokage. "So what'll you do if you find him? Without a chakra canceling jutsu or your Mangekyo Sharingan to counter him, you're putting yourself at risk," the tactician pointed out. "An unnecessary risk at that."

"Obito is a bit more complicated than that," Kakashi stated getting up from his seat and gliding over to the window. "Before he died during the war, from what I understand, he tried to atone for his crimes by helping defeat Madara and Kaguya at the cost of his own life. If I asked him to return, I think he would, just like Sasuke came back to the village," he answered but instead of looking out the window, he looked to a picture of his genin team that sat behind him most of the day. He got a reprint of it when he became Hokage to keep a copy of it close to him and to remind him of why he became Hokage. The photo was set right beside his own team of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura and looking at the two photos made him certain that he had to leave the village to try and bring Obito back. It was a sort of duty he could not deny.

"So you're just going to talk to him?" Shikamaru asked in baffled amusement, raising a skeptical brow. "Do you think he'll do it?"

"Yes. I think he'll listen," the Hokage affirmed, certain of himself and his plan. It was still a gamble, but less so than letting him run unmonitored and free among the nations.

"Alright. Let's get a team to guard you assigned and we'll-"

"No," Kakashi interrupted turning his gaze back to catch the tactician's irritated surprise.

"What do you mean 'no'? You're the Hokage and you're wanting to go after an S-rank missing-nin; a terrorist at that, on a global scale. You need to have some kind of protection," the Nara advised him, all amusement and former composure dispelled from his being. He couldn't blame him though. Obito Uchiha was the reason he was in this position rather than his father.

"If I have too many people with me, he'll just run again and I don't want it getting out that he's alive even if he isn't. The stigma towards him is already too great; it'd cause a mass panic," Kakashi explained before sliding his hands into his pockets and humming thoughtfully.

Shikamaru sigh and nodded in agreement. "So who will you take with you?"

"Well, I figured maybe I could get the team back together. Naruto just made jounin, right? And he's talked Obito down before; he might be able to do it again if we need him to," the Hokage suggested and grinned as he thought of going on a mission with most of his team anyhow. Sasuke was still on his own personal mission and with the history between him, Obito, and Itachi it would be best to not have the pair anywhere near each other.

But nonetheless, he'd be taking Naruto, Sakura, and Sai on this mission and the Hokage was determined to bring his teammate home. That was if he could actually find him.

* * *

Two days later, Kakashi and Team 7 had arrived in the fishing village and began interviewing citizens, but it seemed by then the gossip had already spread. Everyone began speaking about 'The Ghost' even if they hadn't actually seen him, emphasizing the Uchiha's features and making him out to be a demon.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is hopeless. No one here seems to remember seeing him at all. They're just following the rest of the gossipers," Sakura sighed. "Maybe we're looking at this all wrong?"

Naruto came jogging back up after talking to a group of girls that wanted to speak to and admire him. He was a hero after all. He was panting but managed to catch some of the conversation, so he naturally jumped in to add his own comments.

"Remember the bandit we interviewed earlier?" the blond asked, earning an affirmative response from the rest of the team. "He and his gang have been ransacking this place for months, so whoever did beat those guys can't be all bad. It could be someone else?"

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully before closing his novel and slipping it back into his pocket. He hadn't actually been reading it anyhow, being much too busy assessing the data they collected and thinking about why Obito would be hanging around a place like this and defending citizens. There was hardly a good reason. Perhaps it was coincidental or on a whim? But then again there hadn't been any similar incidents before this. It was beginning to seem less clear if Obito was here or not, then again, he did always like being a hero. Maybe that explained it?

"There's only one more thing left to do then," the Hokage said, trying to appeal to his team. He didn't want to abandon the hope that Obito was still out there somewhere. Not if he could help it.

"I really enjoy running around in circles while looking for ghosts. It's great exercise," Sai said with a fake smile on his face, like the ones he always wore when he was being sarcastic.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and sighed before leading his team to where their contact in town, a civilian police officer was waiting.

"That wasn't very nice, Sai," Sakura reprimanded the other jounin as the three younger shinobi followed after the Hokage. They must have thought he was out of earshot.

"Yeah. Kakashi-sensei's just doing his best. It's not his fault the people here can't remember anything," Naruto added.

The rest of the way back to the inn was spent in quiet conversation, mainly taking place between Sakura and Naruto with Sai's occasional comment. Kakashi kept the lead until they met up with Shigure. He was a few inches shorter than Kakashi with a runner's build and brightly-lit amber eyes. There was also a cheerful demeanor about him, but the team attributed that to his eagerness to help some of the Fourth Shinobi War's heroes. The team had found it fairly distracting to their interviewing process and they been forced to make the young officer stay behind. He was still in good spirits despite it all.

"Ah! Lord Sixth, I was wondering when you'd be finished up! Ready to head to the crash site?" he asked cheerfully, thrumming with excitement.

"Crash site?" Sakura echoed curiously.

"Huh? Oh yeah! It's pretty bad. Looks like a meteor hit down and killed half the plants and trees around it. It's really creepy so I just started calling it the crash site," Shigure answered with a nervous chuckle. "Shiro's already there waiting for us to keep the site clear of civilians."

Naruto looked rather amused by the new information and the term Shigure used to describe it. "The crash killed the plants?" he inquired curiously.

"Um, we think so? Most of the greenery around here stays green all year long because we're so close to the Equator. It's warm most of the year," Shigure shrugged as he led the group to the woods beyond the north of the village. "I've lived in the area all of my life - maybe not in this town, but the next one - and I've never seen anything like it. It even gives Shiro chills and she's just about seen it all!"

Kakashi pondered about that for a bit. It sounded like chakra poisoning, but the only things that could do that were certain forbidden jutsu and jinchuuriki. The evidence was becoming promising once more even though the thought of the Uchiha remaining a jinchuuriki churned his stomach. Obito was already a powerful, formidable opponent and with a bijuu inside of him he almost unimaginably dangerous. The Hokage and his team might no longer be any match for him if the Uchiha wanted to fight.

"What could do something like that, I wonder?" Sakura mused, her face showed she was going through her options just as Kakashi was. Naruto, however, looked as though he knew, just as Kakashi did.

"I'm not keen to find out," Sai commented, "but let's find out."

It didn't take too long to meet up with Shigure's partner, Shiro an older woman with frosty blond hair and equally cool eyes behind a pair of oval-lensed glasses. Kakashi could recall seeing her before, if only vaguely as the woman had once been a chuunin before the Kyuubi attack on the village, but she retired and decided to become a civilian police officer instead to protect the citizens outside of the Leaf. She was fairly respectful towards them, but she'd occasionally roll her eyes over to Naruto in discontent. Old habits were hard to break, Kakashi recalled and didn't much blame her after knowing her history. Shigure had told Naruto about his partner on the way there, not quite knowing how to keep his mouth shut.

"Thank you for coming, Lord Sixth," Shiro said with a small nod to him. Just pleasantries.

Kakashi gave a respectful nod back. "Where would you like to start?" he asked, prompting the woman who led them without hesitation to a clearing along the road.

"Here," she answered, slipping through the chakra net surrounding through the area and holding it to allow the rest of the party through. Kakashi didn't see any dying foliage here, but he could see clear signs of a large fire jutsu scorching the grass and earth. "It looks as though the fight broke out here and went into the woods."

"And the 'crash site'? Where's that?" Sakura asked, pulling the woman's attention to her.

"It's about two kilometers that way," she pointed to the west at someplace off into the woods, still within the cover of the chakra net.

"I can show the 'crash site' to you, Naruto-kun! I know where it is," Shigure chirped excitedly, receiving a reprimanding glare from his partner making him shrink down. "Ah, sorry," he began more professionally. "I meant that I can lead you to the site for further investigation." He averted his gaze and his partner sighed in annoyance.

"It's okay," Naruto reassured, making the young officer brighten once more.

Kakashi could almost grin with amusement but he was much more focused on investigating the scene for evidence. "Alright. Let's branch off into two groups," the Hokage suggested. "Naruto, Sai, you two will go to the 'crash site' with Shigure, while Sakura and I will stay here with Shiro and make our way back over to you." The rest of the group agreed and soon Naruto and Sai were following the excitable officer into the woods to head to the other site.

"So, I suppose we should begin," Kakashi said rather than asked.

Shiro led them further into the clearing and pointed out a spot on the field. Kakashi could see trodden down grass where someone must have been standing for a long while. "We believe the perpetrator had been standing here when the battle began. Oddly though is that the grass around it doesn't seem very consistent with the battle that took place," the older woman explained. "That's one of the other reasons we suspected your 'Ghost'."

Kakashi crouched down and Sakura observed from her place too. Obito was capable of allowing objects to pass through him so he didn't really need to move very much or very often in a fight. There were signs around the position that showed that two others attacked, but the footprints around it…

"Sakura, tell me what you think of these tracks," the Hokage asked, trying to get his mind off of the implication that Obito was still of this Earth.

The pink-haired kunoichi hummed and tapped a finger to her chin before answering. "I think that the person that stood here is a very confident fighter. They were able to avoid or deflect attacks from two others easily," she pointed to the tracks leading behind the first marks, "so easily that they ran right past them and missed." She looked back up to an amused Kakashi and continued on, "But I don't think it was a clone and there's nothing to indicate a substitution jutsu."

"Very good," Kakashi praised, a smile reaching his eyes. "I must have taught you well."

"Well, actually I just sort of picked that up on my own. I learned the basics of tracking at the academy," Sakura corrected.

"Oh? I see."

"Most of what I learned after the academy was from Lady Tsunade though," she added further, unthinkingly as she followed the tracks with her eyes. "He must have tossed the other two away from him at some point, but I see a good amount of blood here so at least one of them was injured, possibly lethally. Their footprints suggest that they were sword us- Kaka-sensei?" She focused on the Hokage who was pouting beside her.

"Was I really that bad of a sensei?" Kakashi asked sullenly.

"No! No! You were a great sensei! You… taught me how to dispel Sharingan genjutsu!" she recalled. Kakashi perked up for a moment and raised an eyebrow as the kunoichi looked to be considering something. "Although, I'm not sure if it'll come in handy anymore since Sasuke is the last one with a Sharingan."

Kakashi was crestfallen and sighed pitifully. "I knew it."

Sakura reached out to stiffly pat her former mentor on the shoulder. "Ah, Kaka-sensei, don't feel too bad about it. You could have been a worse teacher, like… Orochimaru?" Her uncertainty only made it worse.

Shiro cleared her throat to pull their attention to her. "Excuse me, but the matter at hand seems more important than your debate. The quarantine zone is situated on a major road and we'd like to get it opened back up as soon as we can," the female officer scolded in her general no-nonsense manner.

"Ah, sorry. We'll pick it up," Kakashi apologized bashfully, rubbing the back of his head and recovering from his wounded heart. He regained his composure quickly and stood back up to his full height. "Well, from here it seems the killer took off into the woods so let's see if we can follow their trail. They were a ninja, so we'll split to check the ground and the trees to see if we can find anything."

"There were bodies found in the treetops in this direction," Shiro supplied, making the Hokage's and his subordinate's job far easier.

"That works. We'll check the trees first then to see where they went. They obviously didn't have time to cover their tracks so it shouldn't take long to find out where he went. Keep your eyes open, Sakura," the man stated earning an affirmative response from the kunoichi. "Shiro-san?"

"I'm going to go back. I have other things to do," the woman huffed. Kakashi just shrugged although he was grateful to be rid of her. It wasn't just that he didn't care for her, but also because he was still concerned about the implications if it was Obito's doing. He'd like to keep it under wraps if the Uchiha was still alive to avoid mass panic. So the two shinobi took off into the treetops, easily picking up on the killer's trail, but soon it was overcome with the paths of several others.

"Kaka-sensei, I think we might have lost it. There are too many trails to tell," Sakura contemplated with a frown.

"Well, we know the person that started this managed to kill all of his pursuers but one, so wherever they went, the rogues probably followed," Kakashi said reassuringly as they tried to keep track of the multiple paths set before them. These trees were smaller than the ones close to the Leaf Village, since they were a different kind so it wouldn't be hard to keep track of where they went. And it wasn't long before they found where several of the trails converged on the husk of a scorched branch.

"What happened here?" Sakura mused aloud as the pair landed on adjacent branches.

Kakashi was wondering the same thing. It appeared as though someone had set it on fire by touching it; a seared, blackened man's handprint sinking into the bark surrounded by several different puddles of melted matter. The Hokage wanted to investigate it more carefully so he let his eyes flit along the branch until he found a spot to land on to get closer.

"Careful Kaka-sensei! That branch could fall at any moment," the kunoichi warned, jolting forward just a hair as she watched the man take the leap regardless. She sighed, disappointed as her former mentor turned her direction and sent her a bashful smile that went all the way to his eyes. He normally wouldn't take the risk, but he was eager to gain some insight into their mark.

At a moment's notice, the at-ease shinobi with a penchant for lazily watching his subordinates carry on their work without him became the practiced, deadly ANBU able to detect a single hair out of place to track even the most practiced and well-disguised of targets. There's a lot to look over here, like the holes that pierced through the wood, the long lines of melted weapon-grade steel, a puddle of what looked like synthetic skin, like silicone or the like, and a lump of half-melted white matter that seemed to have once made a far longer form. He decided to start with the holes first. There were two which seemed to have been anchors for a weapon unseen, probably a spear of a blade-ended chain of some kind which stood a few feet apart. There wasn't much else to discern about them so he moved onto the next bit.

Steel takes a lot of intense heat to become soft and pliable and even more to melt, so the killer, once again was certainly no ordinary shinobi or missing-nin and with the branch still mostly intact, it was unlikely to have been a katon jutsu but a bloodline limit. Or like he feared, a jinchuuriki. Kakashi mentally scrolled through a list of bloodline limits and bingo books to possibly recall anyone able to cause such chaos, both living or dead. Maybe a jinchuuriki of the four-tails or a scorching or steel-bending bloodline, but none of those things made sense and the villages associated with that bijuu and those two bloodlines were very careful about monitoring their shinobi.

He moved on to the puddle of what looked like skin. It reeked of melted plastic and had become a pallid, silicone blob sitting in a pool of drained color. A mask perhaps, to hide distinctive facial features or maybe excessive scarring. But the thing that really piques the ex-ANBU's interest in the indistinctive mass off to his left.

Kakashi looks curiously at the pale white substance. It didn't look like the same consistency as the melted face and eyes (or rather the mask) that was sitting a few feet away closer to the burns on the branch. It was definitely something other than costume makeup or plastic.

"What is it? I've never seen anything like that before," the kunoichi commented, watching from her perch, leaning closer to point out the matter.

"I'm not sure. Do you have anything I can pick it up with?" he asked, holding an expectant hand out as he looked it over.

"Yeah. Just a sec!" She popped open one of her pouches and quickly handed her former sensei a wrapped tongue depressor.

"Thanks."

The man proceeded to unwrap the instrument and shove the wrapping in a pocket before poking it into the substance. It wasn't sticky and seemed to have hardened over time, so he scraped at it with the blunt piece of wood until a piece of it dislodged. He lifted it carefully on the tongue depressor to eye-level. It was white all the way through with a somewhat translucent inside, like a plant. He was vaguely reminded of the Zetsu he had taken down in the war and the way their insides looked when flayed open. His heart began to race as he further recalled the same unnatural substance covering Obito's right side when he had last seen him and ventured to smell the sample.

"Wait," Sakura warns with a hand on his shoulder, "it might be toxic, sensei." His worried subordinate had somehow found her way at his side while he was focused on the appearance of the plant-like matter.

"Could be, but I have a hunch that it isn't," he responds and the kunoichi releases him, allowing him to go about his action. "It's some kind of plant or plant-substance. It has a kind of medical scent, but also..." he trails off and tries to pull in the scent again. That smell was just as he feared.

It was Obito's scent.

He'd been close enough to pick up his scent several times during the course of the war and this definitely smelled like him. It even had his sweat on it. But still, the question was why? Why would he go through all the trouble to hide when he was just going to throw away all of it for the mindless carnage he left in his wake? There were more questions now than answers, but Kakashi was certain he had to find the Uchiha now. These scorches were indicative of a jinchuuriki and the mercenary that he had interrogated earlier had mentioned being a bloodline hunter in his group's spare time. If anyone else got their hands on Obito and managed to use the immense power of whatever bijuu he had sealed inside him and his dojutsu it could lead to another war.

All of the progress the nations had made in the last almost two years since the battle would be lost.

Kakashi couldn't let that happen, so he scraped the sample off of the depressor and stood at his full height. "I want you to go ahead and follow the rest of the trail," he told the pink-haired medical shinobi.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"I want you to go follow the trail and find out where it leads. I'll catch up in a few minutes after I take care of things here," the man explained.

"What about you?" the kunoichi inquired further before settling into an uncomfortable silence. Her brow was furrowed in uneasiness and her voice was both low and measured as she asked her next question, "Are you going to destroy the evidence?"

"Yes. We must keep this quiet for now until we can find out who or what did this. If word got out about what happened here, it could cause a mass panic," the man answered his face turned gravely upon the pink-haired young woman.

"Why not collect the evidence so we can run tests and find out just w-"

"That was an order, Sakura," the Hokage stated, cutting her off but the kunoichi did as her leader decreed and sped off into the trees, leaping from branch to branch as she followed the path their killer took from here. Kakashi sighed. Hopefully, his former student wouldn't hold it against him like Naruto was apt to do if he had come here with him instead.

The man hopped onto another branch before performing a jutsu to incinerate all the incriminating evidence that his former comrade had left behind. He watched it be devoured by the fast-moving flames until nothing remained, leaving a scorched, blackened skeleton that snapped and fell harmlessly to the ground, the fire having been extinguished by the following water jutsu, creating a thick cloud of steam. When Kakashi was satisfied with his work, he took off to follow after Sakura, keeping an eye out for the trail Obito took.

Each track was much further apart now than they had been before, likely thanks to the jinchuuriki mode that Obito had managed to use. How though, he wasn't sure but he suspected it was Naruto's doing whether the teen realized what he did at the time or not. The path twisted and turned and below the path through the trees, he could see the marks left by the ANBU that had been sent ahead to collect and mark the bodies' positions. According to the cards below, a couple of the victims had been dismembered. Kakashi couldn't tell what was scarier about that. Was it that Obito had managed to do that and could do the same to all of them now or was it that what he was seeing suggested that the Uchiha had lost control over the beast?

It wouldn't do to dwell on it, so Kakashi continued on to the area of the 'crash site', which of course, was where the tracks ended. He could see his students and Sai moving around the crater, guided by the young officer. But it was easily made apparent that he should stay up on his perch for a few moments as the chaos unfolded down below. There was no need to get involved with something that wasn't worth the effort, even if he was worried for the Leaf's (and possibly Obito's) sake.

"-But anyway, that's why I will never eat week old fish again," Shigure chirped as he finished retelling a tale to the three shinobi who were half-listening to him while searching for clues as to where their 'mysterious' killer ran off to.

"Oh man! That's a good one!," Naruto said as he began to chortle with laughter, making the officer beam even brighter.

Sai looked up from where he was following a trail of stray shuriken and kunai that had been flung around the area to glance between the two with one of his faked smiles. "That's too bad, Shigure-kun. I'm sure Naruto would have liked to treat you sometime," he retorted meanly, without a tone in his voice before watching the annoyance bloom across the blond jounin's face.

"Will you knock it off already!" he snapped at him, clenching a fist as he glared at the dark-haired shinobi.

"Wh-What?" Shigure croaked. "Um… did I miss something?"

"More like everything," Sai quipped.

"Shut up!"

Sakura growled and in a few steps was within range of both of her teammates, pointing an angry, accusatory finger in each of their directions. "Both of you shut it and get back to searching! We're supposed to be investigating the crime scene! And if I hear either of you two blockheads fighting again, I'll knock both of your heads together!"

Both the other jounin went back to work immediately, with Naruto frantically searching and Sai determinedly shutting his mouth as he pushed back his misgivings to search. Kakashi had to stifle a chuckle at how amusing it was that they still acted like the same Team 7 he'll always remember.

"I swear, both of you can be so obnoxious sometimes," the kunoichi commented and looked up with a sigh before she spotted their former sensei standing in a tree watching them. "Kakashi-sensei," she addressed and pressed her lips into a tight stern line, not wanting to say anything more. It seemed she was upset about him destroying evidence, but it would make sense later on, that is if the four of them could track down their killer.

The men poked their heads up to greet him too as the Hokage landed gracefully on the ground a few feet from the crater. Even their bashful escort greeted him with a bow. "Yo," the silver-haired shinobi said in return. "Did you find anything?"

"Not anything we didn't know about," Naruto offered with a shrug.

"Not anything to indicate where the 'Ghost' went afterward," Sai replied.

Sakura just shook her head slowly.

That was fine if they didn't find anything to show where he went. They didn't really have an idea of what to look form except to follow the footsteps taken in the area. Kakashi took in a deep breath to release a pent in sigh but caught something. Obito's scent. It was old and stale, but it was relatively close.

The Hokage made his way past his subordinates and found himself before a tree marked with blood around its roots. Correction: lots of blood around its roots. There was a card marked '11' by the body, meaning the last one observed by the ANBU who had retrieved it and wrote up the details in the report. He found it fairly interesting that the scent would lead here, but he didn't spot anything indicative of Obito's person.

Kakashi squatted down in front of the tree and began to go over the details of 'John Doe number 11' in his head. Uzumaki. Showed signs of intense trauma. Lacerations to the chest, eyes, and face. But then it clicked. Right arm severed - not found at the scene.

The shinobi recalled that day on the battlefield those almost two years ago where him and the Allied Forces faced Obito and Madara. When Naruto had managed to land a hit on him, there was a section of flesh that was different than the ghastly, white matter that made up his right side. Maybe he could replace it with human flesh at will?

Maybe he stole that man's arm?

It was a possibility. Still, Kakashi had too many questions and not enough answers so he decided to call in some help. He snicked his finger with his teeth before he concealed his face once more and made the signs for a summoning jutsu, right outside the impact of the drying blood. A small, brown ninken appeared grinning at his master.

"Hey boss," the ninken said. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Pakkun. I need you to track something for me," the shinobi requested, gesturing to the blood.

The pug stepped back a little as he eyed it curiously. "That's a lot of blood…"

Kakashi could agree, but it wasn't important at the moment. "I want to find where the rest of him went. ANBU found the body, but not the arm," he explained.

"On it, boss!" Pakkun affirmed and raced away into the trees after he took a short whiff of the corpse's scent.

The Hokage was able to relax some as he knew Pakkun was the best for the job, but his nerves were still a mess. 'Obito,' he thought, 'where are you hiding and why did you never come to me?'


	3. Trapped By the Hound and A Fox

After the events that happened in the small fishing village, Obito decided to quickly get on his way. He didn't mean to activate his ocular jutsu - or the Juubi's power for that matter - it just sort of happened and there was nothing he could do about it now. He had made it to a somewhat larger village just outside the area he had been in and yet again, was succumbing to both exhaustion and a strong desire to rest here for a while. At least, he didn't think a while would hurt. He had a few ryo left still since he fled the last village before taking them up on their offer so he decided to indulge.

Warm, homey smells wafted on the air, leading him by the nose to a decently packed restaurant. It was loud, the hostesses friendly, and they had booths for him to hide behind. The man flicked his sunglasses back up into his hair and smiled. He didn't have much money, but he'd gladly stop for a while, especially now that his body required food again.

He got himself a table and quietly waited for his meal, completely unaware of who else was to make this same decision.

* * *

Team Kakashi was heading up the path on their way home. Their search for the supposed 'Ghost' had been fruitless, at least as far as three of the four members knew. The eldest of the shinobi, however, was following a certain trail that his former students could not perceive. It was faint and difficult to keep track of, but he was sure that Obito was here somewhere in this next town. Pakkun even assured him of it.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm starving! Can't we stop somewhere to eat? We've had rations every day so far," the blond companion, Naruto pouted. He wasn't particularly fond of how they had fared on their most recent mission. But then again, he did have a point, even if he was now a practiced jounin.

"Well, for once I agree," Sakura groaned exhaustedly, rolling a stiff shoulder. "Is there anywhere we can stop for a bit?"

"See, sensei! Even Sakura agrees! We gotta stop somewhere now, y'know," the blond piped in once more.

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. He was considering it, but first and foremost, he still had a ghost to catch around here. "Well, coincidentally, we did get enough funds to stay at an inn for at least one night, but not for dinner," he explained, his nose still deceptively planted firmly in a green-covered book.

"I'd gladly pay for my own food then," the pink-haired kunoichi volunteered.

"After all this pointless walking around, me too," the blond shinobi griped.

"I'll pay for my own as well if it means I don't have to stare at nothing for the next few hours," Sai chipped in.

The silver-haired shinobi continued to read on, in an attempt further ignore them and their plight while he tracked his mark. Pakkun was still seated comfortably on his shoulder, possibly asleep. "I don't know," the man murmured without taking a single glance at them. "I'm not particularly keen on it right now."

The two younger shinobi groaned at their former mentor, but just then, Kakashi detected something. That smell. Pakkun must have caught it too because he stirred and went on high alert almost immediately.

"Boss," the ninken whispered a that was all the shinobi needed to hear.

Kakashi patted the pug on the crest of his head, closing his novel. "You can go back now, Pakkun. I think we've got everything under control now," he said scratching behind the dog's ear.

The ninken looked grim for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright. Later," the pug called as he disappeared in a small puff of white smoke.

The Hokage then turned to glance between all three of his former students. "Looks like I changed my mind," he said with a shrug. "Let's stop here for a while. I think there's a inn around here too that we might stay at, but..." the shinobi paused and looked at the nearby restaurant where it seemed the scent was pouring out of, masked by the thick, savory smell of well-cooked meats and the mixing scents of other civilians and shinobi. There was no doubt it was Obito's scent, so he drifted closer to the shop. "But," he continued after his brief pause, "we'll eat here."

Naruto beamed and raced forward happily - obviously not having any complaints with his decision. Sakura sighed in relief although her forehead creased with annoyance for the blond's antics. She probably wanted to accuse Kakashi-sensei of being up to something suspicious, but well, that was just the way he was sometimes. He'd likely try to make them pay for his meal of course, which was more than well into his character. Sai was the only one that seemed to show neither excitement or misgivings about the restaurant, probably thankful to avoid any further discussion or complaints, barring his own.

The three of them followed just shortly behind Naruto while he was attempting to get them a table, but Kakashi turned his head to a secluded booth, noticing the salt-and-pepper hair of someone vaguely peculiar - who emanated the scent he was searching for - and headed over. Sakura raised her eyebrow and followed him with Sai and after a moment of looking between the table the hostess had led him to, Naruto followed suit as well.

"Kakashi-sensei?" the kunoichi asked somewhat baffled.

"Meh. No need to worry about a table, we'll sit here," he said and took to scooting in across from the man, who seemed more than a little surprised at the silver-haired shinobi, but also annoyed. He looked to be an old friend, emphasis on 'old'.

The man made to get upset but once he realized who it was, he simply uttered, "Bakashi." Naruto and Sakura looked between each other, curious as to who this stranger was that could saddle their former mentor such a nickname. Naruto scrambled quickly to sit next to the stranger and Sakura irritatedly sat next to the grinning jounin while Sai slipped in beside her.

"So you know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked almost immediately, once she was comfortably seated and had a chance to glance between the pair of them.

"No. I've never seen this idiot before in my life," the stranger hissed, a deep frown etched on his face. He didn't sound as old as his hair color implied he was.

"Aw, don't be like that," the masked shinobi pouted. "After all, we've been through? I have to say that I'm a bit offended."

"Good. You should be offended," the stranger snapped in return. Sakura tilted her head and looked at the stranger closely. It was almost eerie how familiar he looked but she couldn't put her finger on how or why that was.

"Have we met you before?" she asked instead, even more puzzled and curious than before.

Naruto rubbed his chin and squinted at the stranger beside him, slowly moving into the man's space. "Yeah… you look really familiar," he agreed making the stranger scoot away, closer to the wall of the booth.

"I'm pretty sure we haven't," he grumbled in annoyance, baring his teeth at the blond with an angry glint in his eye, forcing Naruto to back away to his side of the bench once more.

Kakashi's lips twitched in amusement behind his mask. Obito was certainly not lacking any of the ferocity or attitude he had held before and it was interesting now to see it come out on his innocent students who were keen to find out who he was. It was probably a good thing that they didn't know it was him, as it would undoubtedly put them on edge and end badly.

That was when Kakashi decided to make his move. He hadn't seen Obito off the battlefield in a lifetime and was more than curious as to his doings and goings about. "So what brings you to this part of the world? There's not much to see here. Are you trying to settle down?" the shinobi asked, his eyes flitting over Obito to take in his body language as well as his appearance.

Obito glared at Kakashi as though he had the gall to even consider something like that and scoffed at him, tapping his fingers on the table in annoyance. "Sightseeing, as for settling down, there's no one worth settling for. I'm just passing through. What about you? Business or pleasure, Bakashi?" his words were lancing and biting as he sneered at the Hokage. The team all looked astonished at the way Obito spoke him.

"Business, unfortunately. So… what name are you going by these days?" Kakashi propped his chin in one of his hands, making a notch for it to settle on at a comfortable angle as he continued to gaze at the annoyed Uchiha with amusement.

"Tobu," Obito - or Tobu in this case - replied automatically, without hesitation.

"Would there be a surname with that?"

"None that I'll give to you. You're not deserving of it anyhow."

Kakashi chuckled humorously, the expression reaching his eyes with glee. Obito was horrible with names and the grimace on Obito's borrowed face seemed to show that he felt exactly the same. "How original," he commented in a sing-song voice, prodding impishly at Obito's nerves.

"Listen here, you prick! My name is very original and I won't have it be mocked by trash like you!" Obito hissed like a scorned cat, gritting his teeth as his fierce eyes bore down on him.

"Wouldn't this behavior be seen as some sort of treason?" Sai asked, popping into the conversation without prompting.

Obito scoffed and his eyes flit over to him. "Treason? Like I'd care, but indulge me. Why would it be treason?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and Sakura seemed just as interested. "Tobu-san, you mean you don't know?" the kunoichi asked.

"Know what?" Obito made to take a drink of his tea, waiting for her response.

"Kakashi-sensei replaced Granny Tsunade as Hokage right after the war! Believe it!" Naruto chirped happily beside him, playfully nudging Obito's side. "And I'm going to be the next one! That's a promise!"

The reaction Obito made was immediate. He hadn't been expecting Naruto's usual friendliness nor that Kakashi had actually made it around to becoming Hokage. Obito coughed and spluttered after inhaling some of his drink. Sakura made to stand and help, but he waved her away. Naruto had jumped away the second it had started and Sai had one of his typically cheeky smiles in place. The scene was rather amusing, but Kakashi had to fight with himself to remain neutral rather than leap to his feet to help or laugh at his former teammate. Obito would surely run again if he did that.

"You!" Obito demanded, still coughing. "You became Hokage?"

"I figured I'd at least keep one of my promises," Kakashi replied, holding Obito's gaze, not missing the way the hardness behind his mismatched eyes softened into something else. Guilt. Regret. Self-loathing. It was merely a flicker before Obito was back to shielding his soul once more.

"I suppose I can't say I'm impressed since I expected as much. I'm glad in a way; I think being Kage suits you well," Obito murmured, his face flushed as he takes another sip from his cup, side-eyeing Naruto cautiously this time. Kakashi didn't respond verbally, only giving a short, humorless chuckle. To be honest, he only took the job because no one else was suitable for it, that and his promise to Obito.

It had been difficult at first, knowing his best friend had thrown away his life for him not once, but twice and that he couldn't join him, nor the others that he'd lost. Obito must have known he'd lack the will to carry on without a purpose in life, but then, maybe that's why he was back? To watch over him. There seemed to be too many pieces missing to this puzzle to figure it out.

Around that time, a waitress came over, setting a small bowl of cold soba noodles in front of Obito before taking out a notepad and beginning to take the rest of their orders. While Naruto, Sakura, and Sai listed off what they wanted, Obito held Kakashi's gaze daring him to say anything. Kakashi remembered just how much Obito despised soba noodles, especially cold soba. It was probably the cheapest meal the restaurant could offer, which left an opening for Kakashi to step up his game.

Once everyone else's orders were taken, Kakashi began to pour off a list of things while the team and Obito stared at him in wonderment. The waitress diligently took everything down and offered to come back soon with their orders.

"That's a lot of food, Kakashi-sensei. Are we celebrating something?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Celebrating? No, I just figured I'd order a few things to try, then again…" Kakashi intentionally drolled off before setting his sight on Obito who was picking at his noodles discontentedly, "I'll be happy to share with you, Tobu." Obito gazed up at him at the sound of his alias, the corner of his mouth twitched as he narrowed his eyes.

"I don't need to whatever charity you're trying to offer," Obito informed him snappily before shoving a bite of cold soba noodles into his mouth. He cringed a bit as he did so, keeping eye contact with Kakashi the entire time.

"Maa… it isn't charity. I'm just happy to share with someone whose company I enjoy," Kakashi beamed as he continued to watch Obito. The Uchiha looked away at that, picking at his noodles again.

Naruto seemed heartbroken by the declaration and stuck out his bottom lip before raising a brow and adding, "What about our company?"

"You can pay for your own food," Kakashi hummed cheerfully, making Obito grimace and sink into his shoulders. Sakura and Sai, who sat on Kakashi's side of the booth didn't miss the expression.

"Have long have you two known each other? Actually, how did you meet?" Sakura asked, watching Obito with admirable amusement in her eyes. Kakashi stayed silent, allowing Obito to give answers instead; he didn't want to ruin Obito's cover.

"Far too long," Obito answers the first question with a wry, anxious smile. "Any time spent knowing him," he gestures to Kakashi with his chopsticks, "is far too long. Haven't you met him? He's a disaster in human form." He 'tsked' and prodded at his noodles a few more times before giving Sakura a thoughtful glance. "As for how we've met, we've met plenty of times. I was hoping to avoid another, but well, here we are."

"In one of my books, it was suggested that avoidance behaviors are generally caused by past tension between two people. Usually sexual tension," Sai input, a cheeky smile splitting his face. Obito's chakra flared minutely before he shoveled another bite of soba into his mouth, glaring at Kakashi who was genuinely unimpressed. Now was a really bad time, Sai.

"Well that's true in some cases," Sakura responded, "but I don't think that's appropriate for this one." She chuckled nervously, before flitting her gaze over to Naruto, silently pleading for help. Naruto, however, was too distracted by something else, pouting and staring off into space.

"Oh?" Sai murmured and cupped his chin considerately. "I'm certain that Lord Sixth's advances and Tobu's hostility implies that they were close once. Maybe if they just have-" Sakura cut him off by punching him roughly in the shoulder, knocking him out of the booth, making the clueless jounin sprawl on the floor.

"Whoa! What's going on? Wha'd I miss?" Naruto chirped, glancing around the table, baffled. To be fair, it would be rather confusing to just about anyone if they came back to an angry Obito and Sai flailing on the floor as Sakura grabs the front of his shirt and snarls at him.

"What were you doing all this time?" Sakura snapped at him, directing her attention from Sai momentarily, much to the artist's relief.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan! Kurama wanted to talk about something," Naruto put forth in his defense. "He said it was important, but really he's just being an oversensitive old fox."

"Is that so?" That only did more to confirm Kakashi's suspicions, especially with how pale Obito went in that moment. However, it thankfully seemed that although the Nine-Tails knew, Naruto, for all his gifts, had no idea that the man sitting beside him was none other than Obito Uchiha.

"Yeah! He just wanted to ask a few questions about Tobu-san," the blond continued and all eyes were on Obito once more. Naruto scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "It sounds like it was nothing though, so I'm not too worried."

"Would you look at that? I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. It's been fun, or rather no fun at all and it seems to be about time that I got going. Now move it, blondie," Obito grumbled, ushering Naruto to move with a shooing motion.

"What?"

"You heard me. Get moving! I want to get out of here," Obito snarled angrily at the jounin.

"But you've hardly eaten anything," Sakura input. "And besides, you wouldn't want to leave now; it'd be incredibly rude."

"And this little display between the four of you hasn't been?" Obito spat back, making the kunoichi pout furiously.

Kakashi had to step in. Obito was already too riled up and was attempting to climb over Naruto, which in itself was hysterical since he was trying to do so without touching him. But regardless of how funny it was, he still had his mission.

"You'll miss out on the dumplings," Kakashi pointed out.

"I'm fine with that!" He grunted and then once more to Naruto, "Get out of my way! Move!"

"But come on, Tobu-san! Aren't you still hungry? And we only just met! We'd love to hear more about you and-"

"No! Move! Over! I want out!"

"You'll also miss out on the bakpau I ordered for you," Kakashi added and Obito stopped as if frozen in place while he considered that, a sandal stuck firmly to Naruto's chest. Obito has always had a fondness for sweets, but one of his other favorites, at least that Kakashi recalled was steamed pork buns. They weren't his top pick like dango or any other variety of sweet, but they were a close second. The Uchiha scoffed but with a sound of distaste, retook his seat.

Obito resentfully picked back up his chopsticks and resumed eating. Kakashi was grateful but withheld his sigh of relief. One more wrong move and he might have never seen Obito again. He didn't think he'd ever catch up with him if he ran away again. Obito had been this close to storming out, only placated by the promise of one of his favorite foods and if his appearance was anything to go by, he needed it. He needed all the handouts he could get.

The Uchiha looked miserable. His face was scruffy and unshaved with the beginnings of a beard, his clothes were aged and worn, and despite whatever disguise or minor transformation he was wearing to conceal the scars that marred the right side of his face, he had dark shadows under his eyes. Obito's entire appearance read 'homeless vagabond', and Kakashi was sure that's exactly how things were for Obito at this point in time. What had happened to him? Was it the remnants of the Juubi or was it the same self-loathing he held in his heart the last time he had seen him?

"So, Tobu-san," Naruto began cautiously, now that the chaos had died down, "what do you do for a living? You were once a shinobi, right?"

"I do whatever I can," Obito answered after gulping down a bite of noodles. "It's not as fancy or well-paying as shinobi work, but at least I'm allowed to do as I please without some self-entitled Kage or council to tell me what to do." His eyes burned into Kakashi at the word 'Kage'. Ouch. Didn't that just sting a bit?

"But wouldn't that make you a missing-nin?" Sakura asked, pouting in his direction.

"Not if the village you're from either forcefully retired you or shut down their military forces," Obito clarified. Kakashi hadn't picked up on the accent Obito had been using until now - Hot Springs. The Village Hidden in the Hot Springs had shut down to become a tourist attraction instead since their shinobi were consistently not up to par.

"So you're from Hot Springs?" Sakura mused, putting a voice to Kakashi's thoughts.

"Yeah."

Kudos to Obito for actually thinking of a backstory, even if he put absolutely zero thought into his alias' name. Kakashi vaguely wondered if he'd trained his fighting style for that or if he came up with a cover story as to how they met.

"Whaddya do for food and shelter? How do you pay for things?" Naruto prodded further, just as curious as ever and just as insensitive to the barrier Obito seemed to wish was between them.

"I pay for those things with money, obviously. What a concept, right?"

Naruto scowled in annoyance at that.

The waitress finally returned with their meals and everyone set into their food. Kakashi made sure to eat only when no one was paying him any mind and Obito seemed to be doing something similar. He'd snatch a dumpling or a piece of grilled fish when no one seemed to be watching him - his pride was at stake after all, and Obito was nothing if not petty. The bakpau, however, were devoured rather quickly, followed by the rest of the soba that Obito had ordered himself. It was nice to be able to share a meal with him again; it'd been a long time.

When the rest of the team seemed to be finishing up their meals, Kakashi decided to go take care of his and Obito's bill. He knew that Obito would disappear into Kamui and teleport at the first chance he got. If Kakashi took care of the bill now, he might just be able to corner him outside and ask him to return. Yes. That's exactly what he'd do.

Kakashi excused himself and slipped out of the booth behind Sai and Sakura, before making his way to the counter to settle things, with the premise that needed to relieve himself. The jounin weren't very impressed - knowing that Kakashi's typical reason for leaving was to stick everyone else with the bill - but obliged. They'd probably get ready to leave in a moment too since he was done.

Sure enough, Obito tried to slip away through the back as Kakashi's former students decided to get up and pay for their meals as well. Kakashi followed him, several meters away until Obito stopped in his tracks. He had undoubtedly sensed him the moment he left the restaurant, as that seemed to be one of his abilities from both Kakashi's own observations and the reports he had received.

"What do you want from me, Kakashi? Are you going to drag me back to the village, kicking and screaming? Because I can promise you that that won't end well," Obito grunted tiredly.

"Do you want me to?" He asked softly - hopefully.

"No. I never want to go back to that place if I can help it," the Uchiha hissed in response. Obito shook his head as though dispersing a memory.

"Then I won't force you," Kakashi murmured, he slipped his hands out of his pockets, revealing them to be empty by holding them up in a placating motion before setting them back at his sides comfortably so that Obito would see him as less of a threat. "But I still would like to ask you to return with us."

Obito turned on his heel to face him, his mismatched eyes - onyx and hazelnut - glancing over the Hokage before landing on Kakashi's own pleading iron ones. "Why? What can you possibly offer me that I want?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Nothing that you don't already have, except maybe a place to stay I suppose. You already have my friendship, but I'm tired Obito and I know you are too. You've been away for a long time and one the run for just as long. I'd just like to know that you're content and well. That's all."

Obito hesitated, averting his gaze elsewhere, unseeingly. "What if I'm content like this? Maybe this is the lifestyle I wish to have; the one where I'm free and can choose things for myself." He set his gaze back on the Hokage, his expression warped from the confident, self-assured man that Kakashi had last known, to that of one tired and weary from years of hardship and wandering. "I am, as you said, just as tired of these games, but if I stop for even a moment, I'll be stuck in the same life I was before - a pawn; an ignorant follower. And I don't want that.

"It was good to see you, Kakashi. But... this should be the last time we meet."

"Would you at least consider it?" Kakashi whispered. His heart sank and his gut went cold. Their recent meal together was making Kakashi's stomach ache and churn. He was going to lose Obito again. He was certain of it.

An uninterrupted silence settled between the two of them, broken only by the occasional goings-on of people and establishments nearby and the crickets in the grasses beyond.

"If you do decide to come with us, we'll be leaving town tomorrow morning at six. Maybe seven if I'm feeling lazy." Kakashi added a joke to lighten the tone, but Obito didn't seem amused in the slightest. Still, the silence remained unbroken.

Finally, however, the Uchiha tilted his head in an acknowledging nod and activated Kamui, disappearing in a whirl of darkness until all of him was absorbed into the world of the pocket dimension. Kakashi already hurt to see him go, but he would hold out hope for tomorrow, even if it hurt.

* * *

6 A.M. came and went, falling into 7 and by then Naruto and the others were practically dragging him out the door to get back home after their wild goose chase. Sakura and Naruto seemed particularly disappointed that Tobu - Obito - had run off without saying goodbye, but they made up for it by asking Kakashi all sorts of questions about him, all answered by vague in-answers and questions of the crafty Kage's own device.

They were already heading up the road to, back to the village as they leaped through the treetops when they heard another set of footfalls join them.

"Do you have room for one more?" Obito teased as he fell into step with Kakashi, making his heart flutter. His best friend had come back to him.

"Always," he answered, a smile crinkling his face as it reached his eyes, warmed by the excited beating of his heart.

"We didn't expect to see you again," Sakura said, sending Obito a friendly grin.

"It was a last minute decision," Obito replied, the corner of his lips twitching.

"I figured we'd see you again, especially with the attraction between you and Lord Sixth," Sai stated without filter or regrets. Obito glared at him through the corner of his eye and sneered.

"Can you shut the hell up?" Obito snarled at the obnoxious jounin. Naruto snickered at the reprimand before Obito turned on him just the same, "You too. I don't like any of you. Especially Bakashi"

"Liar," Sakura sang, aptly quieting Obito and the rest of the team. Kakashi didn't say anything in regards to that; he was just glad to have Obito back in his life.


End file.
